


The Years In Between

by Not Applicable (not_applicable)



Series: A Silver Anniversary [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bearding, Coming Out, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Interracial Relationship, M/M, Monogamy, Rhodey Feels, Romance, Secrets, Tony Feels, and we'll drink and dance with one hand free
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-10
Updated: 2013-09-10
Packaged: 2017-12-26 02:17:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/960402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/not_applicable/pseuds/Not%20Applicable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A follow-up to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/880794">Twenty-Five Years</a> (best to read that one first).  All the years we missed.</p><p>
  <i>This is it, okay? This is forever, you and me.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Years In Between

**Author's Note:**

> Upon re-reading _Twenty-Five Years_ , I noticed a flaw. I'd wanted to write a story about Tony and Rhodey being in love and choosing monogamy, but when I read it, it came across like they'd basically just drifted into a 25-year relationship on accident. Then I realized I'd skipped several years of their lives together, and that this gave me the opportunity to right that wrong. These are the years that show moments of intention between them, times when they _chose_ to be together and chose to _stay_ together. I hope there's not a huge difference in tone or style between the two stories, and please leave feedback/comments if you feel so inclined. I'm genuinely interested to know how I did with this.

 

 

 

 

(Tony Stark has pretty much been in a monogamous relationship since he was 18 years old.)

* * *

 

Tony was 20 and pulling Rhodey into his bedroom, shutting the door and locking it against the noise outside. He was prepping to take over Stark Industries in a year and he'd already moved into his parents' old place. It was his birthday and he had decided to christen his father's ridiculous Malibu mansion as his own by having a boat-themed party. Tony was in a captain's hat and jacket, along with little Moschino swim trunks with big stripes going across his ass and crotch. Rhodey was wearing a captain's hat along with his regular clothing – he had refused to even remove the matching pair of swim trunks Tony got for him from their packaging.

“What's up?” Rhodey asked, raising his voice a bit over Steve Winwood's singing. The _actual_ Steve Winwood. He was performing out on the patio.

Tony walked to a dresser and opened a drawer, producing a box wrapped in shiny black paper with silver accents and bows all over it. He handed it off to Rhodey without a word and he took it with a smirk, confused as he sat on the bed to open it. Tony joined him and neither of them spoke as he removed the wrapping and opened the box to find _Oster Limited Edition Chrome and Platinum Classic '76 Hair Clippers_.

“Happy anniversary,” Tony said, and Rhodey looked up quickly. “Yeah, I know – I missed it last year. I mean we _both_ did, actually, but I hope this makes up for it. Those things cost like five grand.”  The last time Rhodey had even kissed anyone besides Tony, he'd still been in college.

“Thank you,” Rhodey said, and Tony smiled. “I'm sorry, I didn't realize – I didn't bring a gift for you. What do you want? New brush?”

Tony laughed. “That would basically just be a gift for _you_.”

“And what, exactly, is _this_ supposed to be?”

So instead they just had quick but fantastic sex right then and there, and when they rejoined the festivities they were both just wearing matching trunks and Captain's hats and nothing else, much to Tony's delight.

 

* * *

 

Tony was 22 years old and walking out of Stark Industries, towards Rhodey's truck. He looked odd in a suit. Rhodey was used to seeing him in expensive yet ratty clothes, stained and ripped to hell and back from hours in his workshop. He'd only been CEO of SI for a year and he seemed to be doing an okay job of it so far, so Rhodey imagined that he'd be seeing a lot more of Tony in custom suits. Tony rattled on and on as they drove through In-N-Out Burger, noting how some of the board members still wouldn't look him in the eye.

“I guess I still have to win a few of them over,” he said as he unwrapped his burger. “I mean it's been a year, you know? They've had time to adjust.”

“They still think of you as a snot-nosed upstart,” Rhodey replied. “Not far from the truth.” Tony just grinned and took a bite of his sandwich. “It's okay, Obie will help if you ask him.”

They reached the private road to Tony's house and Rhodey slowed down a bit, still awestruck by the size of the place, the design, the way it gave voice to the late Howard Stark's overabundance of hubris. He didn't think he'd ever get used to driving up to that house. They finished their burgers on the patio, the sun's heat mild for a summer day.

“I don't know about Obie,” Tony said around his burger. “I don't think he likes me.”

 

* * *

 

Tony was 23 years old and standing in a hotel room in Nevada. Rhodey was sitting on the bed and removing his shirt, shaking his head and unable to find the will to yell. He'd been out training in the desert when he got a message from the base, a cryptic thing telling him to go to a room at a hotel on the edge of town. He expected to find – well, he wasn't sure, really, but it most certainly _hadn't_ been Tony Stark and a bottle of champagne.

“How'd you know where I was?” Rhodey asked, and Tony just grinned and straddled his lap to press a long kiss on Rhodey's lips while unbuttoning his own shirt.

“I always know where you are,” Tony responded, lips trailing over to Rhodey's earlobe.

“That's creepy, Tony.” Rhodey sighed and leaned back onto the bed, bringing Tony with him. “And I can't be disappearing like this, you know...”

“I don't want you to get in trouble,” Tony mumbled. “It's just, you know...haven't seen you in three months.”

Rhodey felt his face heat, but not out of lust. It had been winter the last time he'd seen or heard or touched Tony, another season entirely, and they'd had sex all night before Rhodey shipped out for top-secret military exercises. Apparently the Air Force had big plans for him. He was not allowed to contact the outside world while he was participating in this exercise. Not even a phone call.

“I missed you, too,” Rhodey said, and Tony looked up at him, his lips shining from the wet kisses he was pressing all along Rhodey's clavicle.

“Be careful,” Tony said, and he leaned up to kiss Rhodey, who giggled softly along Tony's lips.

“It's just training,” Rhodey chuckled, but he stopped at the way Tony shook his head, their lips moving apart.

“People get hurt in training exercises all the time,” Tony replied. “Please just be careful.”

 

* * *

 

Tony was 24 and Rhodey was at the lathe in his workshop, fashioning the mechanisms for a new robot. Tony was at the computer typing code tirelessly, and Rhodey looked up when he heard a mechanical chirp from the corner – Dummy was charging on his dock but making an awful lot of noise.

“Something wrong with Dummy?” Rhodey asked.

Tony tossed a quick glance his way and then went back to his feverish pecking. “He's gonna be a big brother,” Tony said flippantly. “He's got anxiety, thinks Mommy and Daddy are gonna forget about him.”

“Dummy can't think,” Rhodey said. The robot chirped again – just an automated response to the sound of his name.

“Rhodey!” Tony said, his voice full of mock-shock. “Don't say that _in front_ of him! He can't help the way he was born.”

Rhodey just chuckled. “Our special boy,” he said, and Tony laughed out loud. “You know, if we _could_ have kids, I bet God would smite us by making them really dumb.”

 

* * *

 

Tony was 25 and Rhodey wasn't sure how much he liked living in California. Well, being so close to LA, at least. The city was teaming with industry types and social climbers whom Tony was happy to oblige with his attention and time. He'd been a fixture of the night life scene there for the past six years and people were starting to ask questions. He never dated, never even went home with anyone. And he dropped everything whenever the military guy showed up.

“I just think it would help get people off my back,” Tony explained as he dropped a socket into his toolbox, not even bothering to put it back in its case with the rest of the set. Dummy had somehow lost control of his arm and they'd had to disconnect the power supply so it wouldn't whip around to-and-fro while they worked. “I'll just entertain her for a week or two and then disappear. 'Tony Stark: Heartbreaker – story on page six.'”

Rhodey was at the computer console examining the robot's code, but he wasn't really reading. He'd seen the girl before, a young actress from Chicago who was working hard to minimize her accent and never ate a thing after five in the afternoon. Young actresses already had a hard time of it but Tony was right, she'd be a good cover for him – for _them_ , really, because Rhodey was the only reason Tony had anything to hide at all.

“Sure,” Rhodey said, and he heard Tony sigh. Tony wasn't buying it. “I mean it, it's okay. Have fun for a week and then we can relax for a while. Makes sense.”

“You know it's not gonna be for real,” Tony said, approaching him, and Rhodey felt greasy fingers sliding along his palm.

 

*

 

The young actress was Tony's official arm candy for exactly eight days before he told her that she was a great person but he wasn't interested in a relationship. She didn't cry or yell or anything, but she _did_ tell Page Six that Tony Stark got so drunk most nights that he'd never even been able to fuck her.

 

* * *

 

Tony was 26 and Rhodey was 29 when he was made the official military liaison to Stark Industries. Tony wrote the press release himself and when Rhodey found out he could have fucking vomited, but in the end he was pleased by what he read. Specifically, this part:

_And it's true that Jim Rhodes will be the youngest person to ever hold this position, but he and I have been colleagues and best friends since 1984. He is a consummate engineer and one of the most highly knowledgeable men in the world when it comes to advanced military weaponry. He did not get this job because we are friends. He got this job because he is the most qualified person for the position._

 

* * *

 

Tony was 27 and handing Rhodey his 30th birthday present. They were in the backyard at Tony's place and lying in the grass. Back inside there was an ice cream cake melting on the kitchen counter and empty takeout containers from Rhodey's favorite Thai restaurant.

The box Tony handed him was small, tiny even. Rhodey's breath caught in his throat but he thought better of that, knowing that it wasn't legal yet and that Tony _couldn't_ be that romantic and fuzzy. ( _Oh please. You know you'd say yes if he asked._ )

Rhodey opened the box to find a slip of paper littered with numbers and letters. He recognized them as the access keys to a military fighter plane.

“When was the last time you flew a jet?” Tony asked.

Now that Rhodey was out of pilot's training and behind a desk in Acquisitions, he rarely got in the sky anymore. He didn't realize he missed it until he looked down at that access key again, and then he looked up to see Tony's eyes literally on fire.

 

Turned out that Tony allowed the Navy to park F-18 Super Hornets at his airfield near the factory, and he wasn't above tinkering with them every now and then or, say, changing the cockpit and ignition access keys to ones that only he (and now Rhodey) knew. Tony was in the backseat mumbling into his cell phone at Air Traffic Control while Rhodey powered up the Hornet, his face practically split in half by the size of his smile. Turned out that Tony could handle the G-forces just fine when Rhodey dived and banked, though he _did_ scream like a child when Rhodey flew upside-down for a bit.

“You asshole,” Tony breathed, and Rhodey just snorted and went into a smooth roll, the night sky clear. They were above the clouds.

They landed and Rhodey's body vibrated with adrenalin as he shut off the jet and opened the hatch, and though there were acquaintances of theirs waiting to greet them on the runway, Rhodey just walked right past them. “We got plans, sorry,” Tony told them as he followed close behind, his shorter legs barely able to stay in stride with Rhodey's.

“ _Do_ we have plans?” Tony asked when they got back in his Audi, and Rhodey just grinned and reached over the gear shift, letting Tony's hand fall into his.

Tony drove into his garage and was barely able to shut off the engine before he found himself being pulled into his lover's lap, still in the passenger seat of his tiny car and both of their hands pulling at belts and zippers. “Christ, is it _my_ birthday, too?” Tony asked, and Rhodey kissed Tony passionately, sucking his lips and kissing the corners of his mouth, trying for every flavor he could get from his body, doing his best to consume him.

 

* * *

 

Tony was 28, and he and Rhodey were arguing. They didn't have _real_ arguments that often, but when they did they were furniture-movers, earth-shatteringly emotional affairs. Tony had pissed Rhodey off by hooking a finger into his beneath the table at a banquet – just a quick hold of his hand, but it had been a military function and they were surrounded by his superior officers and co-workers, the room teaming with people who didn't know about them and could _never_ know.

“Nobody saw,” Tony said, practically pleaded as he removed his tie and flung it onto the hotel bed. “And it was only for like a second, I mean – Rhodey, would you relax? This is -”

“This is _my life_ , Tony,” Rhodey said harshly, angrily, not holding back. “This is what I intend to do for the rest of my life, okay? I've been working towards this since I was a kid and I'd really fucking appreciate it if you could understand just how much you put me at risk tonight. It's suspicious enough that I'm basically working for you _and_ the military -”

Tony was still flinging off his clothes, his $8,000 suit landing all over the room as he removed it. “Fine, fine, I fucking get it – you're Mr. Flyboy 'til the day you die,” Tony replied, now only in his boxers and a giant Audemar watch. “But I had hoped you knew me well enough to know that I'd never really put you out there like that. You just need to fucking relax.” He sat on the bed in a huff, fiddling with the wristband to his watch.

“Maybe _you_ need to take things more seriously,” Rhodey said, and he tensed at the way Tony rolled his eyes. “See? You just – to _you_ it's not a big deal because you're always taking risks, always throwing caution to the goddamned wind and not even thinking about how it's gonna effect other people.” Tony looked into Rhodey's eyes then, his expression going hard. “The center of the universe.”

“Fuck you,” Tony said, spit out, and Rhodey stood up straighter. “Seriously – you sound like my fucking dad right now. You _really_ think I'd throw you under the bus like that? I mean, we've been at this for a while, Rhodey.”

“It's not a question of knowing you,” Rhodey replied. “It's whether or not you love me enough to put your own shit to the side once in a while.”

Tony breathed a hopeless laugh as he looked down into his palms, his head shaking. “I can't believe you'd say something like that,” Tony said. “Are you sure you know me?”

Rhodey's chest felt tight and he thought his teeth might crack from the force he used to clench his jaw. “Maybe not.”

Tony sighed sharply before meeting Rhodey's eyes again. “Okay, dollface,” he said, “what do _you_ love more? Me or the Air Force?”

Rhodey opened his mouth but couldn't say a word. His throat felt tight and his chest was heavy like someone was sitting on it. Tony's eyes went wide for a second before he looked down to his watch, blinking sharply as he started to remove it. Rhodey realized that he and Tony hadn't been out on a date, a real date, since college.

“Leave,” Tony said quietly as he laid his watch neatly over his knee.

“Tony, I -”

“Please.”

Rhodey let out a tense breath and turned on his heel, and the motion made him feel dizzy. Each step made his feet feel like they weighed a ton, and it took forever for him to reach the door of the suite. He exited and didn't say anything to Happy Hogan, Tony's new bodyguard. He made it to the elevator and it was already there waiting for him, and he was glad. Now _that_ was different. No furniture moving, no smoke rising, no real yelling or screaming, even. Rhodey went back to his own room in the hotel and laid on the bed, and he slept alone that night.

 

*

 

Rhodey watched the tabloids over the next week to see Tony partying all over New York and Miami, photos of models in his lap and actresses walking into his apartment with him on Ocean Drive. He was photographed with Rupert Everett, both of them playfully trying to hide their faces as they entered a bar together. Rhodey knew Tony was doing all of this just to piss him off and that he shouldn't fall for it, but it still made his blood boil. Tony's birthday was in a few days and it would be their eleventh anniversary, but here they were, not talking and not seeing each other and quite possibly being broken up. And Tony was traipsing all over the world with boys and girls alike, living it up in the light of day, for everyone to see.

Of course Rhodey loved Tony more than the Air Force. They had to be secretive, of course, but he'd always thought that fact was a given between them. It was a silly question to begin with, but he understood why Tony asked. He thought Tony knew, but maybe he needed to hear it. Rhodey was kind of surprised to see Tony needing reassurance like this, but he knew he was being ridiculous to expect Tony to be unshakeable. Eleven years or not, of course Tony needed to hear it.

 

Rhodey called Happy and found out that Tony was back in Malibu. Rhodey drove to Tony's house and let himself in, going straight down to the workshop. There was music playing but it wasn't particularly loud, and Tony was leaned over the engine of his dad's old Fairlane, elbow-deep in it's mechanisms.

“Hey,” Rhodey said, and Tony looked to him quickly. He removed his safety goggles and put them on the bumper of the car, but he didn't speak. “Long time.”

“Only been a week,” Tony said, his face stoic, his hands fumbling with a screwdriver.

“I still missed you,” Rhodey said, and Tony's lips twitched and he looked away, actually _blushing_. “I mean we spend time apart plenty, but considering the circumstances...wasn't easy.”

“Yeah,” Tony mumbled, and he sat the screwdriver down. “I'd agree with you on that.” He looked at Rhodey again, his features now tight and tense.

“Page Six told a different story,” Rhodey said, and Tony sneered, but in a way that Rhodey knew wasn't directed at him.

“Yeah,” Tony replied hesitantly, clearly unable to deny his behavior in front of the paparazzi. “But you shouldn't worry about any of that. Nothing happened. With _anyone_.” Tony's eyes were so sharp that Rhodey didn't doubt him in the least, and now he thought that he probably shouldn't have even mentioned the tabloids at all. “I was just being an asshole, I'm sorry.”

“Don't apologize,” Rhodey said. “ _I'm_ sorry, Tony. You asked a really important question and I didn't answer you. I love you more than everything else.” Rhodey sighed. “I can't always show it, and I hate that. I really do.” Tony cracked the tiniest grin, looking down almost in a coy manner, but he kept his place by the car. Rhodey didn't think Tony was playing hard-to-get because his face was reddening again, his eyes blinking – he seemed shy and overwhelmed. Rhodey sighed again and took a few steps towards Tony. “You know, I really don't think I could forgive myself if I lost you because of my job.”

Tony looked up quickly. “No, no,” he said, shaking his head, his brow wrinkled as if the idea of it was preposterous. “It's gonna take _a lot_ more than this to send us to Splitsville, babe. This is it, okay? This is forever, you and me.”

Tony's shyness seemed to return for a moment when he looked down at the tools he'd lined up neatly along edge of the car hood, but Rhodey decided that he wouldn't give Tony enough time to regret his words. He began closing the distance between them and Tony met him halfway in a warm kiss, their mouths slanting together and Tony's greasy hands gripping Rhodey's t-shirt. Tony tasted a little like liquor but mostly like spicy food and his natural, sweet flavor, his scent swirling around Rhodey's nose for the first time in what felt like ages.

“I'll never tell you to leave again,” Tony whispered into Rhodey's mouth, his own lips still pecking sweetly between words. “And if I do, say no.”

And now Rhodey was smiling as he moved Tony around the car and to the backseat, where he opened the door and let Tony sit, then lie back. Rhodey knelt and they both worked together to get Tony's pants down, and Tony gasped when Rhodey took him in quickly, all the way to the root. Tony smelled clean and warm and he was already leaking along Rhodey's tongue as he moved back and forth, his pace quick and hungry. Tony's hand was on his head and fighting for a grip in his short hair and Rhodey took Tony's balls in his hand, rolling them around gently. It was enough to make Tony come with a shout, and Rhodey peeked up to watch Tony's eyes fluttering closed, his lashes wet, his whole body shaking and his lips whispering too low for Rhodey to hear.

Rhodey noticed how quick that was but he didn't say anything, just let Tony pull him up into the backseat with him, both of them on their sides and practically fighting to be the first to get Rhodey's cock out. Neither paid attention to who won once Tony spit into his hand and wrapped it around Rhodey, moving fast, his lips mumbling silently yet again...but when Rhodey pressed his face into the crook of Tony's shoulder it placed those mumbling lips right at his ear, and maybe in the past Rhodey had been too enamored to even listen, but now they were so close and Tony was breathing hard, giving his ever-silent words a shape and a tone for the first time in a decade.

“You are better than everyone else...I don't want anyone else...I love you, marry me....I want you to marry me...fuck _yes_ please _god_ Rhodey I love you marry me stay with me...”

And Rhodey came as a hoarse sob passed his lips, his face hot and his chest heaving as he undoubtedly ruined the vintage leather interior of Mr. Stark's car. Had Tony been saying those things for all these years? Since the first time?

 

* * *

 

Tony was 29 and asleep in the back of Rhodey's SUV. They made it to Tony's house, where he parked in the garage before walking out to join Happy, who was waiting for him on the driveway. He and Happy worked together to get Tony inside the doorway, and Rhodey said a quiet goodnight to Happy as he left.

Tony reeked like scotch and there was lipstick on his neck, a shapeless smudge from someone who must have been pushed off of him rather quickly, and Rhodey just laughed. Tony huffed a bit at the noise but didn't really respond besides wrapping his arms around Rhodey's neck as he dragged him up the stairs.

Rhodey stripped Tony down and put an empty trash can near one side of the bed, then laid Tony on the mattress beside it before climbing over him and spreading the covers up both of their bodies. Tony rolled towards him and plopped his drunk head down on Rhodey's chest, arm flung carelessly across his stomach.

“Sorry,” Tony slurred.

“Don't make a habit of this.”

“I promise.”

 

* * *

 

Tony was 30 and sitting at the foot of Rhodey's bed. Rhodey's vision was swimming and he was ignoring the SportsCenter recap of yet _another_ loss by the Eagles. As good a reason as any to get drunk.

“You know, kitten,” Tony said, “I find you to be quite adorable when you're shitfaced.”

“I'm gonna puke,” Rhodey slurred.

“On it!” And Tony was there in a second, trash can in hand and not shying away while Rhodey vomited his up cheesesteak in chunks.

 

* * *

 

Tony was 31 and they were at his birthday party. His house was swimming with people, more strangers than friends, and all of them drinking and reveling as some band played out on the lawn. Rhodey was inside and sitting on the couch with Pepper, Tony's new assistant, and she seemed to be taking to the job well enough.

“I know he can be a handful,” Rhodey said. “You're managing okay. I mean honestly, I'm impressed.”

Pepper sipped her Bellini with a smile. “It's only been a month or so,” she said casually, ever humble. “But I try.”

Across the room they saw Tony walk in while politely waving a woman away, a dimpled brunette who pouted as he shut the door between them. There were other women ready to greet him as soon as he walked in, however, and his eyes were exasperated but his smile was large, bright even, as he continued to shuffle away while he spoke to them.

“Poor guy,” Pepper said, the grin on her face making it clear she didn't mean it, so Rhodey just grinned, too.

Tony eventually managed to work his way over to the couch and he plopped down between Rhodey and Pepper. Rhodey could tell that Tony was stone-cold sober and slightly irritated, his jaw working a bit though he wasn't saying anything. Rhodey wanted to drop a hand down on top of Tony's but he couldn't, so instead he flung an arm up onto the couch behind him and leaned in a bit – a friendly gesture.

“I'm tired,” Tony said. “I hate this. I wanna go home but this _is_ my home so I guess I'm stuck.”

Pepper laughed, still too new to know when Tony was being serious, but her laughter faded when Tony began to slump towards Rhodey as he pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes shut tight, forehead wrinkled. “You okay, Mr. Stark?”

“He'll be alright,” Rhodey said, knowing that this was not true. “It's okay, I got him.”

Rhodey stood with Tony and led him down to the garage, towards the less-conspicuous members of his car collection. “I'm ready for a quiet birthday,” Tony said as they walked. “Like yours. We always just eat and have great sex and fall asleep. This is getting boring.”

Rhodey put Tony in the passenger seat of a Bentley Phantom and they drove off towards Calabasas, where Rhodey lived. Tony was always surrounded by people he didn't know, always spent money on them and kissed female strangers in case there was a camera around. He let the world see him as an unrepentant party boy in exchange for Rhodey's job security. He sold himself out night after night so that his lover wouldn't lose everything.

So Rhodey called in pad Thai and roast duck in every color of curry that they served it in, and he paid the delivery guy while Tony took a shower. Tony emerged in pajama pants and he ate with a smile on his face, the television muted on _How It's Made_. Tony's mouth was burning from the red curry but so was Rhodey's, and they both closed their eyes when Tony sank down onto Rhodey's cock as he lay stretched out on the couch, Tony kneeling over him with this hands gripping Rhodey's shirt.

Rhodey’s eyes were half-lidded as he held Tony’s waist, both of them moving together with long, slow thrusts. Tony had a wisp of a grin on his face as his hands slid under Rhodey's shirt to pinch at his nipples. Rhodey winced but the touch was welcome, new and making his skin tingle with electricity. He met Tony's eyes and saw his grin spread wider, devilish as he began to move a bit faster. “ _Mmph_ ,” Rhodey grunted, arching back as his cock touched a delicious spot inside of Tony, bringing much the same response from him. Rhodey felt Tony's grip on him tighten and Tony's thrusts sped up more, his hips shifting as he shamelessly sought that touch again and again.

Rhodey sat up and wrapped his arms around Tony, his grip tight at Tony's waist in an attempt to slow him down, to make this last a bit longer, but clearly that wasn't what Tony wanted, and it was his birthday. Rhodey realized that there was no use in trying to curb Tony’s enthusiasm so he exhaled with a heavy groan and dropped his forehead onto Tony's chest, surrendering to the waves of pleasure that were starting to make his body tremble. He dug his hands into Tony's hips and began to pull their bodies together, adding to the already intense force of their sex, pressed kisses along Tony's sweaty neck. This brought Rhodey’s cock in contact again with the sweet nub buried deep inside of Tony and he swooned on top of Rhodey, his eyes widening and a violent red flush flooding into the skin of his face and neck.

Tony ground his ass into Rhodey’s hips, squeezing, shamelessly bouncing that pleasant spot against his lover's cock, and Rhodey let out a broken wail and thrust his hips upward into Tony, releasing himself hard inside of him. Tony moaned as the sticky heat rushed across his most sensitive spot and he came as well, eyes closed and his cock spurting between them, and in the end they both sank back into the couch again, exhausted.

“Wowee,” Tony breathed, not-so-slyly wiping his sweaty face on Rhodey's shirt – but Rhodey didn't mind. Tony turned and kissed him, messy and tired but sweet, and he said, “Love ya, babe,” before laying down on Rhodey's chest again.

“Back at ya,” Rhodey yawned, one hand over his head as he fished around the end table for the remote control. He turned the television to AMC and let Tony fall asleep on his chest while _Imitation of Life_ played, and eventually Rhodey fell asleep, too.

 

* * *

 

Tony was 32 and sitting behind his desk at Stark Industries. Rhodey was sitting in front of him on the edge of the desk, his hand on top of Tony's, which rested on his knee. Rhodey was chewing his lips and thinking hard about what Tony had just suggested.

“I just think it would be nice,” Tony said in a gentle tone that he reserved for moments like these, “if we didn't have to hide in front of _everyone_. We already trust Happy, so why not her?”

Rhodey curled his fingers around Tony's and then picked up his hand to hold it with both of his own. He could hear Pepper's heels clicking their way down the hall and he took a deep breath. He let it out when the door opened and Pepper walked in, but he didn't let Tony's hand go.

Pepper hesitated for only a moment, her ever-confident stride stuttering for the quickest of seconds while her eyes flicked down to their clasped hands. She continued to walk towards them and sat at the desk in front of Tony, her eyes straight ahead.

“Okay, Tony – ready to get your day started?” she asked, and Tony rolled his eyes. “I know, its _only_ 1:30, what could be so important?”

Tony gave a jokingly sad look and Rhodey shook his head, and he felt his heart leap in his chest when Tony stood. He glanced at the door to see that it was shut, and he knew that it required a key card for entry. Pepper was looking down at her new Stark Tablet – a prototype, the first of it's kind.

“I gotta do what she says,” Tony said, his tone sad but his lips smiling, and it was enough to get Rhodey to forget about Pepper altogether and meet Tony in a quick kiss.

“See ya,” Rhodey said, and he gave an _I'll call you_ gesture as he headed for the door.

 

* * *

 

Tony was 33 and hiding under Rhodey's desk, his pants halfway down and a hand clamped over his mouth. Rhodey's breath caught in his throat every time his superior officer kept speaking, kept acting like he was going to leave before remembering yet another point he needed to make.

“Yes sir...I will, sir...absolutely...yes sir...alright, seventeen-hundred tomorrow, sir...thank you.”

Rhodey resisted the urge to sigh in relief once the Colonel left, and he already knew Tony was laughing into his palm when he peeked down at him under the desk, Rhodey's own face twisted into a reluctant grin.

“Okay,” Rhodey said with as much authority as he could muster, “we are _entirely_ too old to still be doing this.”

 

* * *

 

Tony was 36 and Rhodey could hardly get to him for all of the people in his suite, models and burlesque dancers and personal trainers and producers and the like. Rhodey was trying to inch his way through the crowd, towards the couch where Tony sat with a brunette in his lap, her fingernails toying with the hair on his neck. Rhodey shouldered past two guys in short-shorts and saw Tony shake the woman's hand off of him as he leaned toward Happy, who was sitting across the coffeetable from him and chatting excitedly.

Rhodey brushed a woman's hand off of his tie and kept walking, offering a wave to Pepper as he passed her at the bar. He was finally near the couch and it was if Tony sensed him when he looked at him without a startle, no “wow, everybody, guess who showed up!” or anything like that. He just kept talking to Happy as he stood, the brunette sliding off of his lap with no acknowledgment from either of them, and he inched his way around the table to stand at Rhodey's side.

“Our team got stomped tonight,” Tony said. “I can't believe it – every away game, they just get _murdered_. It's like they can't even read their playbooks unless they're on the Linc.”

“Losing to the Raiders, too?” Rhodey said, and he tsked. “Not a good look.”

“Did you watch the game?”

“Nah, I was working.”

Tony gave him a sly little sneer before continuing with, “Come on, they're replaying it on ESPN right now.” Tony started walking towards the master bedroom in his suite and Rhodey followed, keeping close so they wouldn't get separated. “You should see the TV in the master suite, man. It's like, half the size of the one I got you last year.”

Rhodey laughed and they made it through the crowd quickly with Tony leading the way, and Rhodey locked the door behind them and put the chain on as well. They stood at the foot of the bed and kicked off their shoes, Tony's jacket and shirt falling to the floor while Rhodey tossed his over the back of a chair. They still didn't speak as Tony pulled his belt away and Rhodey began to remove his own tie. Tony took off his pants and then started unbuttoning Rhodey's shirt for him.

“Glad you made it,” he said.

“So am I,” Rhodey said, glancing up at Tony's weak grin. “You look tired.”

“I _am_ ,” Tony said and he laid back on the bed and crawled up to the top, pressing his head into a pillow. “Been tryin' to sneak away since ten.” He reached out then and beckoned tiredly to Rhodey. “Come on, puppy, crash out with me.”

“Patience, Tony.” Rhodey finished undressing and climbed into bed in his boxers, sliding up to Tony and resting his face along his shoulder. They fell asleep, leaving all of Tony's party guests to their own devices.

 

* * *

 

Tony was 39 and getting his ass beaten on international television by someone Rhodey had never seen before. Rhodey had refused to go to the Grand Prix even though it was “their thing,” citing exhaustion from playing the official government apologist for Tony's newest...er, invention. But now, with his heart in this throat and his eyes glued on the scene in Monte Carlo, it was taking everything inside of him not to strap on one of Tony's suits and go help him.

But instead he just waited an hour or two before calling Pepper and getting Natalie instead, and he refused to let her take a message until she finally handed Pepper the phone. Tony was off somewhere trying to speak to the man who attacked him, and she promised him Tony would call the second he was able.

Four days later Rhodey got a call telling him to meet Tony on the helipad at his house. Tony and Natalie climbed out together, her rambling away with a tablet in her hand and Tony waving carelessly at Rhodey as they walked over. Tony stopped suddenly and turned to Natalie, and with a few words she was back on the helicopter and flying away. Tony continued towards Rhodey, his grin all teeth.

“What the fuck was that?” Rhodey asked. “You're not a race-car driver.”

Tony grinned and Rhodey almost hated to think that the black eye Tony was sporting actually looked kind of sexy on him. “I made it out in one piece,” Tony said, flinging an arm around Rhodey's shoulders and leading him back towards the house. “Don't be mad, sweets. I'm here now, I'm alive, all is well.”

Tony smelled like alcohol and his steps swerved a bit as they finally reached the sliding door that led to the kitchen, and Tony went straight to the bar while Rhodey turned on the oven to reheat the pizza he'd bought when he thought Tony's chopper was landing an hour earlier. Tony was scratching at his neck a bit and just sipping his Scotch, his back to Rhodey, his eyes locked on his own reflection in the glass behind the bar.

“You okay?” Rhodey asked, and Tony cast a quick glance over his shoulder before looking to the bottles before him, pointlessly reading their labels. “Why'd that guy attack you? Who is he?”

“Just the kid of a former SI employee who wants a piece of the pie,” Tony said flippantly, still not looking at Rhodey. “No big deal. The jails in Monaco are nice, but not _that_ nice.”

Rhodey felt uneasy, so he walked up behind Tony and rested a hand on his shoulder, and finally Tony lifted his eyes and met Rhodey's in the mirror. They were bloodshot from alcohol and trembling, wobbly like they had been after Howard and Maria died.

“Are you okay?” Rhodey asked again. He glanced at Tony's neck and saw some new scars that he hadn't seen before – long, dark things. Road rash, maybe?

“I'm gonna change my will,” Tony said. “Yeah, I'm gonna leave you everything.”

“What?” Rhodey said, dumbfounded. “Why would you do that?”

Tony just shrugged like it didn't matter – like nothing mattered. Rhodey tsked and wrapped his arms around Tony, and Tony turned in his embrace to kiss Rhodey's neck. They both sighed but Tony was laughing through his, the most disturbing of chuckles.

“I don't want everything,” Rhodey said. “I want you – and, specifically, I want you to be okay.”

“I'm okay,” Tony responded, all too quickly, and though Rhodey didn't believe him at all, he just nodded and pulled him closer.

 

*

 

A month later, after Tony's birthday and their first fist-fight _ever_ and palladium poisoning and the return of the Russian guy and amazing make-up sex in a hotel suite in Manhattan, Rhodey told Tony, “Don't lie to me about shit like that again.”

 

* * *

 

Tony was 43 and facing the bathroom mirror, his head tilted forward as Rhodey cleaned up his hairline with clippers. Rhodey dusted off Tony's back and shoulders and then gently pulled at him, leading Tony to turn around and face him. Tony slid one hand into the pocket of his pajamas and the other one rested on Rhodey's hip as he picked up a smaller trimmer to work on Tony's beard. Around the corner Pepper was orchestrating a staff of fifty caterers, directing their movements like a conductor as they prepared Las Vegas's largest hotel suite for Tony's 43rd birthday party.

“You still won't fix your own line,” Rhodey mumbled, shaking his head. “Well I mean the line, I can understand, but your beard? The sideburns? This is child's play, Tony.”

“I like it when you do it,” Tony responded. Predictable. “I refuse to learn how.”

“Which means I'll be doing this forever,” Rhodey sighed, but he was sure to shoot Tony a playful glance, and he got one in return.

“I wouldn't mind,” Tony said quietly, trying to stay still as the electronic blade buzzed around his jawline. “I don't think you would, either.”

Rhodey just snorted, his eyes focused on his work. They were heading to Italy in the morning to celebrate their anniversary and he still had to get his stuff together, find his swim trunks, get a new brush, clean and oil the clippers so they could be brought along as well.

“I wouldn't,” Rhodey mumbled as he brushed his fingertips along Tony's neck, knocking errant hairs away.

“So how 'bout it, dollface?” Tony said, and Rhodey was confused for a moment. Tony's hand was bouncing around in his pocket, and Rhodey heard a soft jingle. “Wanna be my live-in beautician?”

Rhodey blinked at the sound. “I think I already am,” Rhodey said, trying to fight away the breathlessness that was descending on him. Tony never failed to knock the wind out of him.

“Yeah, but...” Tony trailed off and pulled his hand out of his pocket but kept his fingers curled in a tight fist, the jingling now muffled by his flesh. “I know I'm just being a brat, but I've always wanted a nice outdoor wedding at my family's mansion back in Long Island. In the spring or the fall, when it's cool out.” Tony held up his hand and opened it to show two simple rings made of what Rhodey knew was platinum. He'd signed for a package of the raw metal when it arrived, and Tony had banished him from the workshop for days after that. He'd had his suspicions. “We could do the drunk Vegas thing, too, but I'd rather not. Too cliché, even for me.” Rhodey put down the clippers when Tony picked up the larger ring and held it out to him. “Look, I already know I'm spending the rest of my life with you, but if something happens to me, I don't want anyone else trying to get what's yours. I'm rich as hell – I mean you saw what happened when Michael Jackson died, right? I want a legal document that cements what we've always been. So yeah – my folks' place, Vegas, I don't care. However it happens, I'm gonna be marrying _you_ , so...”

Talking about death didn't creep either one of them out anymore. It was a fact of their lives now, and they'd both taken measures in the past years to deal with any aftermaths that may come with being Iron Man and War Machine. “Same here,” Rhodey said, and he took the ring and looked at it carefully, examined the intricate patterns that Tony had carved into the surface of the band. “We'll do it at your parent's old place then. Haven't been there since college.” Tony looked up at him with the coolest and sweetest expression, no tension, as though he'd always known what the answer would be.

 

They didn't go the party. They slept on the jet and arrived in Amalfi to see the sun rising over their villa, a house owned by Tony's mother's family since the twenties. The mountain climbed high behind the house and the pool looked out over a cliff and toward a bright blue sea. Tony brushed rose oil pomade into Rhodey's scalp and they held hands when they went walking together at night, the streets practically abandoned, and the people who did see them did not care.

 

*

 

The ceremony was at the old Stark family estate in Long Island, NY, the house were Tony was born, with a guest list of exactly thirty-five people. Just friends and a few of Rhodey's family. Pepper and Happy split their duties as the Maid of Honor and the Best Man, and Tony did her a huge favor by hiring a wedding planner and letting her enjoy the festivities as a friend and a guest. The ceremony happened on a cool fall morning in the garden amongst the topiaries that he'd loved to get lost in as a child, a story often reiterated to Rhodey whenever they would fly out for a weekend back in college, not telling anyone they were there. They'd run around the garden naked and jump in the fountains, get drunk on ancient bottles of wine and have sex on the rug in front of the fireplace like two idiots in love. Rhodey was smirking at the memories as he held Tony's hands, some “shaman” friend of Pepper's officiating because neither one of them cared to choose anyone themselves – they'd finished up the paperwork and revised their wills last week and it was all done now, it was just them, just Tony and Rhodey and they really didn't need anyone else.

They were supposed to write their own vows but neither ever got around to it, so they promised each other they'd just keep it short and sweet. Rhodey said:

“I was 17 the first time I saw you, and I'm 46 today. What is there to say? I mean, I can't imagine a life without you. I think that means that this is what was supposed to happen, this is the natural progression of what we've always had. I love you. I've already given you my entire life, Tony, and you can have the rest of it, too.”

Tony turned to their guests and said:

“I like that he mentioned the first time we met because I went home after class that night and called my folks. 'I've found the man of my dreams – love of my life, Mom.' And then when I was 18 and we pretty much made it official, I called again and I was like, 'I'm gonna marry him, just watch, I'm gonna be with him forever.' I used to taunt my Dad with that, too, threaten to leave Rhodey every cent of our family's money.” There was a sprinkle of laughter from the crowd and Tony was grinning as he turned back to face Rhodey, shaking his head and squeezing Rhodey's hands. “And finally I get to do it. What's mine is yours, Jim. Everything. And you're right – this is what we were meant for. I love you, and I've been working towards this moment since the day we met.”

The shaman-medicine-woman-two-spirit-whatever lady pronounced them married but they were already kissing, and Rhodey was glad he didn't have to speak. He'd always wondered how and when Tony had told his parents about them, and Rhodey had always imagined something quite different. Maybe a calm “Mom, I have a boyfriend” or “Dad, Rhodey and I are dating,” but _never_ a 14-year-old Tony calling home and declaring Rhodey the love of his life only hours after they'd first met.

 

They spent their first night together in Long Island and then went to spend the rest of their honeymoon in Cambridge, now that their old apartment was a high-end rental property. They snagged it for a week and went on dates at all of their favorite old restaurants, walked past old bars and clubs that were now boarded up and lonely. They both knew that marriage licenses were in the public record so they just turned off their cell phones and decided they'd deal with all of the attention when they got back to California. Rhodey's job was no longer on the line and there had never been much at stake for Tony, so they walked down the street hand-in-hand and visited old professors with their arms around each other. At one point they found a tabloid with a picture of them on the cover – they were sitting on a bench on the MIT campus and eating falafel wraps from the student union, Tony signing an autograph with one hand while holding Rhodey's in the other.

After that, they finally turned on their cell phones to find the internet inundated with pictures of them, quotes from people who saw them and their faces Photoshopped onto popular memes. There were voicemails from Pepper that basically amounted to “oh my god please fucking help me,” so Tony and Rhodey prepared a short statement for her to share with the press.

_Hi everyone,_

_We have been together for 25 years. Our legal marriage pales in comparison to the lives we've already lived together. This is old news to the few people that we can count as friends, and we'll answer everyone else's questions in our own time. Ms. Potts has no additional information for you, and she is attempting to enjoy a little time off while we're on vacation. Leave her alone – we've put her through enough. You have no idea._

_-Anthony Stark and James Rhodes_

 

*

 

They made love in Rhodey's old bedroom while the sun rose and Tony mumbled silently, and Rhodey smiled because he knew exactly what Tony was saying, even though he still could not hear him.


End file.
